Surah Ghafir (40) — Ayah 46

(Ayah 46) ➊ {اَلنَّارُ يُعْرَضُوْنَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوًّا وَّ عَشِيًّا:} After being drowned in the sea, Allah has mentioned two of the worst punishments that surround them. One is the punishment that will last until the Day of Resurrection, the punishment of the grave or the punishment of Barzakh, which is inflicted upon them in the form of fire during the interval between death and the Hereafter, to which they are presented morning and evening. Whether their bodies have become food for sea creatures, are preserved in a museum, or have mingled with the dust, every particle of theirs, wherever it is, is their grave, and until the Day of Resurrection, they will receive this punishment. "Morning and evening" means all the time, and this is an idiom used not only in Arabic but in every language. See Surah Maryam (62).

➋ { وَ يَوْمَ تَقُوْمُ السَّاعَةُ اَدْخِلُوْۤا اٰلَ فِرْعَوْنَ اَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِ:} This is the second punishment that will begin on the Day of Resurrection. This verse is a clear proof of the punishment of the grave. Some people, despite clear verses and hadiths, have denied the punishment of the grave. May Allah guide them. Imam Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, has mentioned three verses and several hadiths to prove the punishment of the grave under {’’كِتَابُ الْجَنَائِزِ‘‘} in Sahih Bukhari, in {’’ بَابُ مَا جَاءَ فِيْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ‘‘}. The first verse: « اِذِ الظّٰلِمُوْنَ فِيْ غَمَرٰتِ الْمَوْتِ وَ الْمَلٰٓىِٕكَةُ بَاسِطُوْۤا اَيْدِيْهِمْ اَخْرِجُوْۤا اَنْفُسَكُمْ اَلْيَوْمَ تُجْزَوْنَ عَذَابَ الْهُوْنِ» [ الأنعام : ۹۳ ] "When the wrongdoers are in the throes of death and the angels have their hands outstretched, [saying], 'Bring out your souls! Today you will be awarded a humiliating punishment.'" The second verse: « سَنُعَذِّبُهُمْ مَّرَّتَيْنِ ثُمَّ يُرَدُّوْنَ اِلٰى عَذَابٍ عَظِيْمٍ » [ التوبۃ : ۱۰۱ ] "Soon We will punish them twice, then they will be returned to a great punishment." The third is this verse which is under exegesis here.

Among the hadiths mentioned in Sahih Bukhari regarding the punishment of the grave, a few are presented here. Anas bin Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: [ إِنَّ الْعَبْدَ إِذَا وُضِعَ فِيْ قَبْرِهِ ، وَتَوَلّٰی عَنْهُ أَصْحَابُهُ، وَإِنَّهُ لَيَسْمَعُ قَرْعَ نِعَالِهِمْ، أَتَاهُ مَلَكَانِ فَيُقْعِدَانِهِ فَيَقُوْلَانِ مَا كُنْتَ تَقُوْلُ فِيْ هٰذَا الرَّجُلِ لِمُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ؟ فَأَمَّا الْمُؤْمِنُ فَيَقُوْلُ أَشْهَدُ أَنَّهُ عَبْدُ اللّٰهِ وَ رَسُوْلُهُ فَيُقَالُ لَهُ انْظُرْ إِلٰی مَقْعَدِكَ مِنَ النَّارِ، قَدْ أَبْدَلَكَ اللّٰهُ بِهِ مَقْعَدًا مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ، فَيَرَاهُمَا جَمِيْعًا، قَالَ قَتَادَةُ وَذُكِرَ لَنَا أَنَّهُ يُفْسَحُ لَهُ فِيْ قَبْرِهِ ثُمَّ رَجَعَ إِلٰی حَدِيْثِ أَنَسٍ قَالَ وَ أَمَّا الْمُنَافِقُ وَالْكَافِرُ فَيُقَالُ لَهُ مَا كُنْتَ تَقُوْلُ فِيْ هٰذَا الرَّجُلِ؟ فَيَقُوْلُ لَا أَدْرِيْ، كُنْتُ أَقُوْلُ مَا يَقُوْلُ النَّاسُ، فَيُقَالُ لَا دَرَيْتَ وَ لَا تَلَيْتَ وَ يُضْرَبُ بِمَطَارِقَ مِنْ حَدِيْدٍ ضَرْبَةً، فَيَصِيْحُ صَيْحَةً يَسْمَعُهَا مَنْ يَلِيْهِ، غَيْرَ الثَّقَلَيْنِ] [بخاري، الجنائز، باب ما جاء في عذاب القبر : ۱۳۷۴ ] "When a person is placed in his grave and his companions turn away from him and he hears the sound of their sandals, then two angels come to him and make him sit up and say: 'What did you use to say about this man, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him?' So the believer says: 'I testify that he is the servant of Allah and His Messenger.' Then it is said to him: 'Look at your place in the Fire; Allah has given you a place in Paradise instead of it.' So both places are shown to him together. Qatadah said: 'We have been informed that then his grave is made spacious for him.' Then Qatadah narrated further from Anas, may Allah be pleased with him: 'And as for the hypocrite or disbeliever, it is said to him: 'What did you use to say about this man?' He says: 'I do not know; I used to say what the people said.' Then it is said to him: 'You neither knew nor did you follow.' Then he is struck with iron hammers with such a blow that he screams a scream which everything near him hears except humans and jinn.'"

Abu Ayyub, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, came out after sunset, and he heard a sound, so he said: [ يَهُوْدُ تُعَذَّبُ فِيْ قُبُوْرِهَا ] [ بخاري، الجنائز، باب التعوذ من عذاب القبر : ۱۳۷۵ ] "The Jews are being punished in their graves." Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, narrates that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, passed by two graves and said: [ إِنَّهُمَا لَيُعَذَّبَانِ، وَمَا يُعَذَّبَانِ فِيْ كَبِيْرٍ، ثُمَّ قَالَ بَلٰی، أَمَّا أَحَدُهُمَا فَكَانَ يَسْعٰی بِالنَّمِيْمَةِ، وَأَمَّا أَحَدُهُمَا فَكَانَ لاَ يَسْتَتِرُ مِنْ بَوْلِهِ ] [ بخاري، الجنائز، باب عذاب القبر من الغیبۃ والبول : ۱۳۷۸ ] "Indeed, they are being punished, and they are not being punished for something major." Then he said: "Yes, (it is indeed major); one of them used to engage in tale-bearing, and the other did not protect himself from his urine." Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, used to supplicate: [ اَللّٰهُمَّ إِنِّيْ أَعُوْذُ بِكَ مِنْ عَذَابِ الْقَبْرِ، وَمِنْ عَذَابِ النَّارِ، وَمِنْ فِتْنَةِ الْمَحْيَا وَالْمَمَاتِ، وَ مِنْ فِتْنَةِ الْمَسِيْحِ الدَّجَّالِ ] [ بخاري، الجنائز، باب التعوذ من عذاب القبر : ۱۳۷۷ ] "O Allah! I seek refuge in You from the punishment of the grave, from the punishment of the Fire, from the trials of life and death, and from the trial of the one-eyed false messiah (Dajjal)."

46. 1. In Barzakh, that is, in the graves, people are presented before this fire morning and evening, which proves the punishment of the grave, which some people deny. In hadith, the punishment of the grave has been explained in great detail, for example, in response to the question of Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), the Prophet ﷺ said, "Yes! The punishment of the grave is true." Similarly, in another hadith it is stated, "When any of you dies, (in the grave) his place is presented to him morning and evening, that is, if he is destined for Paradise, then Paradise, and if he is destined for Hell, then Hell is presented before him, and it is said, 'This is your real place, where Allah will send you on the Day of Resurrection.'" (Sahih Bukhari) This means that those who deny the punishment of the grave do not accept the clear statements of both the Quran and Hadith.

46. 2. From this, it is absolutely clear that the matter of being presented before the Fire, which happens morning and evening, is before the Day of Resurrection, and before the Day of Resurrection, there is only the life of Barzakh and the grave. On the Day of Resurrection, he will be taken out of the grave and thrown into the most severe punishment, that is, Hell. By "the people of Pharaoh" is meant Pharaoh, his people, and all his followers. To say that we see the dead lying peacefully in the grave, and if he were being punished, it would not appear so, is baseless, because it is not necessary for us to see the punishment. Allah is capable of punishing in every way. Do we not see that in a dream, a person sees a most painful scene and feels severe distress and torment, but the onlookers do not feel at all that this sleeping person is suffering? Despite this, the denial of the punishment of the grave is mere stubbornness and undue arrogance. In fact, even in wakefulness, the pains a person experiences are not themselves visible; only the person's writhing and restlessness are apparent, and that too only when he writhes and is restless.

46. They are presented before the Fire morning and evening, and on the Day [60] the Hour is established (it will be said): "Admit the people of Pharaoh into the severest punishment."

[60]
The Fate of Pharaoh and the People of Pharaoh and the Proof of the Punishment of the Grave:

Among those who drowned and died, only the body of Pharaoh was saved by Allah. The bodies of all the others became food for the sea creatures or sank to the bottom of the sea. By Allah’s command, the waves of the sea cast Pharaoh’s body onto the shore, so that the common people could witness the fate of the king who claimed divinity and take heed. And it remained on the seashore for a long time, and it did not decay but remained intact. It is said that a thick layer of sea salt formed on his dead body, which protected it from decay. Now, whether the bodies of those who drowned are at the bottom of the sea, in the bellies of sea creatures, or Pharaoh’s body is lying in the Cairo museum, the souls of all of them, as soon as they drowned, went into the possession of Allah. From the day they drowned until the Day of Resurrection, their souls are brought morning and evening before that Hell in which they will enter with their bodies on the Day of Resurrection. In the period from their death until the Day of Resurrection, which is called in technical terms the “Barzakh,” only a presentation before the Fire takes place, and it is only of the souls. But on the Day of Resurrection, they will enter the Fire, and they will enter with their bodies. In this respect, the punishment of Barzakh is much lighter compared to the punishment of the Day of Resurrection, and the punishment of the Day of Resurrection is much more severe than that of Barzakh. In this verse, there is a clear mention of the punishment of Barzakh or the punishment of the grave, but despite this, one sect among the Muslims has denied the punishment of the grave, and I have addressed these gentlemen in my book “Aina Parveziyat.” There is no room for detail here. For now, I am only quoting a few hadiths from Bukhari, from which the proof of the punishment of the grave is clearly established:

1. Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik ؓ says that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “When a person is placed in his grave and those who buried him return, he hears the sound of their sandals. Then two angels come to him, make him sit up, and ask him: ‘What did you use to believe about this man, Muhammad ﷺ?’ In response to this question, the believer will say: ‘I testify that he is the servant of Allah and His Messenger.’ Then it will be said to him: ‘Look at your place in Paradise. Allah has given you a place in Paradise in exchange for this.’ Then his grave will be widened for him. But when the disbeliever or hypocrite is asked: ‘What did you use to say about this man?’ he will say: ‘I do not know; I used to say what the people said.’ Then it will be said to him: ‘You neither understood yourself nor followed the opinion of those who understood.’ Then he will be struck with an iron hammer so hard that he will cry out, and everything around him except jinn and humans will hear his scream.” [بخاری۔ کتاب الجنائز۔ باب ماجاء فی عذاب القبر]

2. Sayyiduna Ayyub Ansari ؓ says that once, after sunset, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went outside Madinah and heard a sound there. He said: “These are the Jews being punished in their graves.” [بخاری۔ کتاب الجنائز۔ باب التعوذ من عذاب القبر]

3. Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) says that once the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by two graves. He ﷺ said: “They are being punished, and they are not being punished for something major. One of them used to go about spreading slander, and the other did not protect himself from his urine.” Then he took a fresh twig, broke it into two pieces, and placed one piece on each grave. Then he said: “It is hoped that as long as these twigs do not dry, their punishment will be lightened.” [بخاری۔ کتاب الجنائز۔ باب عذاب القبر من الغیبۃ والبول]

4. Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah ؓ says that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to supplicate: “O Allah! I seek refuge with You from the punishment of the grave, from the punishment of Hell, from the trials of life and death, and from the evil of the one-eyed false messiah (Dajjal).” [بخاری۔ کتاب الجنائز۔ باب التعوذ من عذاب القبر]